Bon-Ton's November Sales Up - Analyst Blog

The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (BONT) reported total sales of $319.1 million for the month of November 2010, which was 2.7% higher than $310.8 million in the year-ago quarter. The company's comparable store sales grew 2.9% for the month. The upside in revenues was driven by strong Black Friday sales and cold weather merchandise purchases.

In the month of November, the categories which performed well are coats, home, shoes, men's, children's, cosmetics and fine jewelry. However, performance at some of the categories such as traditional moderate missy, petite and large-size sportswear and juniors was not up to the mark, which hurt the top-line results.

The company is recording significant sales gains in eCommerce and considers it to be a significant growth driver. Bon-Ton is also using the software of International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) to improve the customers' online shopping experience. The loyal customers are also rewarded through coupons or discount at the time of transaction. As a result, the company experiences double-digit increase in order for the holiday season.

Bon-Ton's year-to-date total revenue inched up 0.9% year over year to $2.29 billion and same-store sales upped 1.2%. The company has also started the month of December on a positive note, with comparable store inventory up 3%.

During the third quarter of 2010, the company's total revenue dipped 0.5% to $700.5 million and comparable store sales dropped 0.3%. Given the weak revenues, the company also reported a loss of 36 cents per share. However, for fiscal 2010, the company expects same store sales to be in a range of 1% to 1.5%.

Bon-Ton has 277 department stores, which include 11 furniture galleries in 23 states in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains. Its brands comprise the Bon-Ton, Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's, Younkers and Parisian.

 
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